Care home kid being 'groomed for sex'

A MOTHER who put her daughter in care for her own safety fears the child is being groomed for prostitution.

A mother who is worried for her daughter, who is living in a care home in Southport

Share

Get daily updates directly to your inbox

Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email

A MOTHER who put her daughter in care for her own safety fears the child is being groomed for prostitution.

The woman, from Harpurhey, voluntarily put her teenage daughter into care in January after she started playing truant and disappeared from home for days on end.

Now the desperate mum, who has asked us not to identify the family, fears the 15-year-old has become ensnared in a seedy world of drugs and is being lured into child prostitution despite being looked after in a children's home.

The mother claims she has been let down by social services and alleges that her daughter's behaviour goes unchecked by staff at the care home.

She said: "I was told it was in her best interests for her to go into care to stop her putting herself at risk but since she has been there she has gone missing at least 10 times and social services say there is nothing they can do."

The girl was originally placed in a children's home in Manchester before being moved to a privately run home in Southport in an attempt to distance her from the influences of her associates and break her pattern of behaviour.

A report from the children's home confirmed she had at least once "absconded", resulting in police involvement, and had been allowed to travel from Southport to Manchester in the company of a male youth after she refused to be escorted by a member of staff. She has also been tested for pregnancy .

While staying at the home, the child receives £15-a-week pocket money, plus a clothing allowance of £7.50 a week and a £5-a-week phone card

Just last week the girl went missing for four days and told her mother she had visited Birmingham, Leicester and London in the company of an older male.

Her mum, who is 43 and suffers from poor health, claims she has been told by a social worker it is likely her daughter is being groomed for prostitution.

She added that she has been advised not to bring her daughter home because of the effect her behaviour might have on her other children.

Instead she asked social services to put her daughter into secure accommodation for her own protection but was told she did not meet the criteria.

She said: "I am worried that she is going to get herself raped or murdered - she is not safe and I am just waiting for that knock on my door.

"There needs to be some measure put in place so that vulnerable children cannot just come and go as they please."

A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "It is inappropriate for us to comment on personal and confidential issues."